266 LIVING THINGS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT 



Martin Johnson 

 What kinds of foods do each of these animals eat ? 



PROBLEM III. HOW DO ANIMALS PERFORM 

 THE BUSINESS OF LIFE? 



What are the chief problems of animals? Unlike the 

 green plants they cannot make food, but must get it. 

 This, then, is the big problem of living. To be successful 

 animals must know where and how to get food. Have 

 you ever tried to find out the different ways in which 

 animals you have seen get food? Grazing animals like 

 sheep or cows cut the grass for their fodder and then chew 

 it over and over again. They do not seem to have very 

 hard work to get their food. But how different it is with 

 a bird or a fish. Have you ever watched big trout or 

 bass feed? They sometimes jump clear out of the water 

 after insects or they may make a rush at a school of 

 minnows and snatch one or two before they can get away. 

 They are hunters and have to be very active if they are 

 not to go hungry. A bird, like a robin, must be quick 

 when it sees an insect or an earthworm. A flash of the 

 bill and the insect or worm is gone. Watch the big yellow 

 and black spider as it lies in wait in its circular web. 

 When a fly or other insect touches the web, the spider is 

 awake in an instant and soon throws out sticky threads of 

 silk that hold the victim fast until the spider can paralyze 

 it with its poison fangs and then suck its body juices at 



